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User blog:Brocky292/Finding the Aroma - Episode One
For a refresher of the trainees and NPCs, see here Introduction It had been some time since Alpha Entertainment first held a press conference in regards to their survival program Finding the Aroma. With hype naturally building, as Alpha is one of the biggest companies in Korea, many had speculated who the trainees were that would be participating in the survival program. Certainly some of the Alpha girls who didn't make it in the latest Make Me season would take part right? Abe Meki had been rumoured to still be an Alpha trainee so the potential for her to appear was high. Had Twinkle's Paige Kim really signed with the company and would she be getting a chance at another group? Then of course long term fans of Alpha remembered Billie Jung, Alpha's twelve year trainee who was passed over for both Echo and Black Swan. Would she finally get her chance to shine or had she left the company she spent her youth at? Questions were answered in the final weeks of November 2019, when Alpha's CEO Seo Min-Hee held yet another press conference this time to reveal the twelve female trainees wAlaho would be taking part in Finding the Aroma. In the televised event, the girls were revealed one by one. With their profiles being released on Alpha's website immediately after. Fans went wild, declaring immediate favourites and picking ideal line-ups. But with no confirmed number for the group, fans were also baffled and full of questions. "Seo Min-Hee unnie is smart, she knows how to keep us invested," wrote one netizen. "I wonder if they'll all get to debut and they're just working towards the debut?" asked another. But the company stayed silent, and soon promotional teasers began airing on Mnet. At long last, Finding the Aroma was taking off. December 1st, 2019 Filming was to start today, all twelve girls were backstage of a studio stage built in Mnet's filming warehouses. There was a judging panel across from a small main stage, and on either side of the main stage were six seats. One side had green individual couches and the other had pink. At the judges panel sat Seo Min-Hee herself, to her left sat Nebula's Dae and to her right Echo's Amihan and Degree's Saeryun. Back stage the girls begin getting called up through alphabetical order, having each prepared a special stage for the four judges the girls would perform their stages then await the results back stage. Performances First up was Abe Meki, or AKI as she was going by on the show. Showing off that her rapping and singing skills have improved since Make Me's third season, AKI performed a rendition of former girl group Sirens' Give it to Me. The performance as a whole was well received by the four judges and she was then asked to return back stage. With Amihan pointing out that she noticed significant growth in the trainee since Make Me. One of Alpha's newer trainees, Alana Park was second to come out. The judges hadn't seen much of her talents yet as she was rather new to the company, but after her performance there was no doubt Alana was in the right show. Seo Min-Hee praised her on taking on the challenge of singing HANA's song I, and doing it justice at that. Following Alana was Billie Jung, the trainee in her twelfth year at Alpha. Upon walking onto the stage, all judges seemed rather somber when she appeared on stage with Saeryun even pointing out that he felt remorseful as he remembered coming into the company when Billie was already a trainee and she sat and watched the debut of so many groups. The mood was quickly brought back up as Billie sung to Ariana Grande's Greedy and showcased self-choreographed moves, being praised for her technique. Kaido Emi was next, a new trainee in comparison to some. Having been picked up by Alpha after Make Me, she caught the eye of Seo Min-Hee. While an ambitious and some may say daunting song, Emi performed Aphrodite-Eros' track Lil' Touch on her own, with a dance break to accompany it. Dae said that she managed to pull of the song well despite singing all five parts, and Seo Min-Hee spoke about how she saw something in Emi on Make Me that she's seen once more. Star quality. Trainee Yeon Joo-Yi was next, introducing herself as Alpha's next gem Juri which garnered some chuckles from the judges. Being an Alpha entertainment fan herself, Juri decided to do a medley of all Alpha groups' best hits. Starting with Black Swan's sultry Be Natural chair dance then going into Echo's Starry Night to show off her vocal skill, then finishing it off with dance covers of Alpha's boy groups. Saeryun noted that she showed great versatility but seemed slightly nervous at first, but overtime the nerves appeared to disappear. Kim Mi-So took the stage next, and was immediately praised for her visuals. As she thanked the judges graciously, Miso then went into her performance. Performing Lizzo's Good as Hell to showcase her vocal skills, the song then transitioned to Bang Bang where she did a dance routine. After being praised on how she made everything look effortless and easy, Saeryun mentioned how her facial expressions in between her vocal performance and then the transition into her dance performance were truly captivating and that she kept them hooked throughout the stage. As Paige Kim stepped onto the stage, Dae couldn't help but turn to CEO Seo and mention Twinkle. The Make Me group's maknae looked as bright and cheerful as always and even performed the groups last release Oh! My Mistake. When Amihan had asked why she decided to perform the project group's song, Paige stated that she wanted to show the judges that she was able to perform the song by herself and that she was just as skilled a vocalist as Hana or Kaiya. Vocal trainee Jeong Jang-Mi, or Rose, was next to take the stage. Being a more vocal oriented trainee, Rose made sure to show off her vocals by performing the ballad version of Aphrodite's Into the New World. It was an emotional performance given the song selection, but the judges praised Rose for taking on such a vocally demanding song. With Amihan noting that her pitch never faltered throughout the performance. The youngest trainee on the show, the idol judges weren't sure what to expect from Yeo Si-Ryeon. With CEO Seo being the only one to have seen what she could do at monthly assessments, the overall performance came as quite the shock to the other judges. As a trainee with dance as her specialty, Siryeon performed to a mashup of Beyonce's Partition and Destiny's Child's Lose My Breath. While two very different concepts, Siryeon was praised for showing versatility in her dance styles. Dae specifically noting that he wasn't expecting such a powerful performance from someone as young as her. Jung Mi-Yoo took the stage with great confidence, introducing herself as Alpha's four year trainee Thalia. Having been a trainee for four years, the judges had known her to be a good vocalist but to their surprise she only showed off a dance routine to Neon Jungle's Trouble. Despite a good performance, Seo Min-Hee was confused which prompted her to ask what was the thought process behind Thalia's choice. Explaining that she wanted to show a new side of her to show that she could be a versatile performer, the judges commended her decision and thanked her for showing something new. Huang Shu Fang, or Vera, was Alpha's only present Chinese trainee in the program. After a cover of Pandora's Feel Special and Like Ooh Ahh, followed by a self-choreographed dance routine to Dua Lipa's New Rules, Seo Min-Hee was first to praise her. Stating how she remembered six years ago when Vera came from China to be a trainee under Alpha and how there was a language barrier. CEO Seo went on to say how proud she was of Vera and how far the young girl had come in those six years. Last but not least was rap trainee Yowon, her performed a self-composed rap based song. Her general skills were commended and Seo Min-Hee pointed out that she seemed to really enjoy being on the stage in front of the judges which was good, Saeryun did point out that her rap flow could use some work but overtime it would improve. Results After the final performances, the judges spent thirty minutes in deliberation as the trainees patiently waited backstage. Talking among themselves, many trainees expressed how they had no regrets about their performance. In confessionals Vera, Emi, Billie, and AKI spoke about how good it felt to get validation for all their efforts, while Paige spoke about how she felt proud of her performance and she hoped the Twinkle girls were cheering her on. Yowon appeared to be upset about her performance, to which Miso and Alana comforted her explaining that this is going to be a learning experience for everyone. While the girls conversed backstage, the judges had decided on two groups of six. Pairing some of the strongest and long-term trainees with newer trainees and ones who still have room to improve. The teams were balanced in the most fair way possible. After a producer informed the girls they could return to the main stage, all twelve girls lined up in front of the judge's panel. Seo Min-Hee was now standing with a clipboard in her hand. After speaking briefly on how proud she was of all the girls for showing their well prepared skills and talents, she quickly briefed them on what was to come in Finding the Aroma. "In the coming weeks you will be tasked to work in groups, performing for myself and other future judges. This was just the first of many tasks to come and you all did my proud. While this week you were judged just on your current skills, in the weeks to come you will be judged on your stage presence, your talent, and how you work together in your groups. Not only will myself and your label mates be judging but also the fans... Each week there will be the Top girls who have the highest chance of making it into the final group, and the Bottom girls who will need to work harder to keep their position on the show." Whispers and shock quickly set in among the girls, having no concept of what the show was truly about this news came as a surprise to them. In confessionals many stated that they needed to be one of the Top girls. With Rose saying she couldn't imagine being in the Bottom. "After this week, if you are sitting in one of the six pink couches you will be considered as part of the Bottom. If you are sitting one of the green couches, you are part of the Top. However, for right now these chair serve simply as your team colours and they serve as just that, a team colour." With everything being explained to the trainees, they were quickly split into teams with the knowledge that further instruction would be given in the coming days. Category:Blog posts